2001, The Sorcerer
Rehearsals
In July 2000 a meeting was held to look at rewriting Merrie England. This had wonderful music, but an unsuitable script. The Sorcerer was also given a close look. Ian came up with a proposal including drug addicts, and interest switched to it instead.
In late August 2000 there was a meeting on The Sorcerer at Michael's. We ended up setting the show with a circus coming to town, with a magician who gets a love potion going and is quite surprised when it works. We started with a parade of the circus characters during the overture and included Australian characters, so we thought it should be a lot of fun.
The auditions for The Sorcerer attracted only thirteen prospective soloists, but a good cast was assembled. The surprising aspect was the shortage of sopranos when we had five tenors auditioning. The treasurer turned up during the afternoon auditions to get some cheques signed, was a talked into auditioning, and offered a role! There was only one suitable soprano for two roles, so Marilla Homes was poached from the chorus of EMO, and was happy to do the lead. Lesley Walton's comic ability ensured she was chosen for the role of Constance, a demanding role considering she had to deal with two tenors, Gerard and Paul sharing the role of Rev. Throbbing. The problem with sopranos extended to the chorus, and we had to chase extras, until we had almost too big a chorus.
Michael and Darren were to share the tenor lead, as Michael wanted to assist with direction. He found this difficult, and ended up opting out of the direction towards the end of the rehearsal period. David Cox and Malcolm Wilton took on the Sorcerer and the father. Jane Eisenbise returned to choreograph.
Lynne prepared an evening to introduce the new concept and this was well attended. Also attending by Steven Kahler, an American medical scientist who had been pianist for a similar group in the States. He stayed on to accompany rehearsals.
Meanwhile Lynne's son, Josh, was performing the role of the gardener in EMO's Marriage of Figaro, so well that the musical director wanted to elevate him to the main cast. Later he came along to run makeup workshops prior to the show. A professional clown was also organized to train the kids in circus tricks.
The Sorcerer - performances
Show Program
The show was financially and artistically very successful. We had four tenors sharing two roles, and it was interesting to see the different interpretations. On the second last night one of the young sprites had an asthma attack and an ambulance had to be called. Her father was playing in the orchestra. Has there ever been a show without some drama?
These history notes have been kindly provided by our long-term artistic director and co-founder, Graham Ford.